Guy Fawkes night was not a deterrent for our team of 4 at FoodCycle tonight, especially as they knew they could go on form the task to see some of the local fireworks display after serving up a sumptuous meal to the 50 guests.

There was lots of produce available and Martin and Gill were busy as usual, chopping, mixing and grating to help prepare various elements of tonights dinner. Martin, now dubbed the Custard King was all set to make his usual batch, but was slightly disappointed to find out our usual custard powder had been substituted for instant powder - just add hot water. It wasn't quite as tasty as his usual milk laden custard but it went very well with Gill's apple and pear crumble.

There was also a joint effort to create a delicious "bistrot" side salad to accompany the main pasta course, while one of the other volunteers conjoured up a large pot of leek and potato soup.

Chanel and Omar joined the team, and Omar again was a wizard at the kitchen sink while Chanel helped to put together the goody bags, serve the guests and clean up afterwards.

Great team effort and another fabulous meal. Well done Team.

Five of us joined the team at Foodcycle today, and it was great to have Omar join us for his first FoodCycle task. Martin and Gill were busy in the kitchen cooking up a shepherdless pie. Yazed, Omar and Shady joined the hosting team and did a great job of setting up the hall ready for the guests. Omar then joined the team in the kitchen and took on responsibility for washing up, while Yazed and Shady got on with serving the guests. All 54 eating in plus 5 takeaways too. Another successful FoodCycle Evening.

Goodgym Luton turned out to support Foodcycle this evening, as we do every Tuesday. Unfortunately tonight the surplus food from the supermarkets was quite minimal, but the kitchen team still managed to knock up 2 courses. A main of fajitas with rice 🍚, with Mexican inspired flavours. This was accompanied by a spicy 🍅 and chilli 🌶 sauce. Following that was a Christmas bread pudding, this layered dessert had bread, custard and a couple of mashed up Christmas puds inside, topped with a dollop of (quire thick) custard. 3 of tonight's Goodgymers helped the hosting team and as ever Foodcycle were pleased to have us present. Well done everyone 👏

New week, new challenge at Foodcycle. A small kitchen team and very little food surplus from the donating supermarkets, meant the challenge was on. On the menu this week was a take on French Onion 🌰 soup, with a cheesey 🧀 croutons on top, a vegetable stir fry with noodles and a side salad, and Cake with fruit salad 🍎🍏🍐🍇🥝🍌. The starter was well received and nearly everyone of the 47 guests asked for seconds. The main was equally enjoyed but there wasn't enough for any seconds. There were 3 cakes in the store cupboard that hadn't been used on previous weeks so that was divided up into portions and served with a delicious fruit salad, containing apples, pears, grapes, kiwi, plums and bananas 🍌. Shady worked really hard with the hosting team which helped the under resourced kitchen team massively. Great effort 👌

On a rainy and cold Tuesday evening, we couldn't help but have cheesy smiles for the hot cheesy garlic bread coming out of the ovens! The cooking team did an amazing job to make a delicious two course meal of pasta with salad and cheesy garlic bread (which was a hit) followed by a dessert twist - banana & croissants baked with custard. Just what you need to forget about the rain 😀 Gill had come to the task earlier in the afternoon having collected the surplus food from the supermarket and unloaded it at the church. The hosting team were joined by two new Good Gym members, Hasan and Shady who got stuck in and helped to clean up the kitchen. Also, just because I can't help it, I asked them to say CHEESE for a photo. A good team effort with the Food cycle volunteers. Thank you everyone for today ☺️

Tonight a Foodcycle, we had Goodgymers in the Kitchen and the Hosting team. Chanel and Hassan were superbly supporting as part of the hosting team and I got stuck in with the kitchen team. As the charity were celebrating their 15th Birthday, there was a special guest, Steven Carter-Bailey who was a contestant on The Great British Bake Off a few seasons ago. He made a fantastic cake 🎂 which we all got a slice of and chipped in to help in the kitchen.
The team made a vegetable soup for starter and Jacket spuds with vege chilli 🌶 and cheese for main. The cake was for dessert and everyone enjoyed the evening. 54 guests fed and a really nice atmosphere 👌 Well done team, it really was a GREAT Goodgym effort again 👏